Oregon family embarks on a 2-year trip around the world

KRISTINE THOMAS/ Kerri, Jason and Sydney Frazier are on a two-year global adventure.
Kerri, Jason and Sydney Frazier are on a two-year global adventure.

KRISTINE THOMAS

Everything Jason and Kerri Frazier, along with their 8-year-old daughter, Sydney, own for the next two years fits in three large backpacks that weigh less than 50 pounds, and three school backpacks.

On Nov. 1, the Frazier family left Oregon for a two-year trip around the world.

"We both knew we had a bad case of the travel bug when we would take a vacation somewhere and never want to return. We always wanted to see what was just on the other side of the horizon and to just keep going," Jason, 41, said. "That desire is what led to the idea of taking time off to explore some of the places we've always wanted to see."

Looking around the hotel room they've stayed in for the last six weeks, both Jason and Kerri were a little amazed they had finally reached the jumping-off point for their around-the-world adventure.

"We began planning five years ago," Jason said. "We did our research, figured out where we wanted to go and started selling everything from our sailboat, motorcycle, house, cars and furniture."

What they kept fit into a small U-Haul trailer that they towed to their first stop in Boise to visit family. They plan to spend November in the western United States visiting friends and family before flying Dec. 1 from New Mexico to Paris.

Both Kerri and Jason said many of their friends, family and colleagues questioned why they would uproot their daughter from school, sell their possessions, quit their jobs -- Kerri was a nurse at Oregon Health Sciences University and Jason worked for the city of Oregon City -- to travel. They will home-school Sydney for the next two years.

"We had people tell us this kind of adventure was for when you retired," Jason said. "Well, we know a lot of people who get to retirement and then they have other reasons for not going or doing what they want to do. Plus we want to show our daughter the wonders of the world."

They have learned to shrug off the naysayers by understanding that long-term travel isn't for everyone.

"We respect that people don't agree with what we are doing. We have followed the plan of going to college, getting good jobs, getting married and having a child. We want to do more," Jason said. "We believe the education that our daughter will receive through world travel will be better than anything she could get sitting in a classroom."

"The opportunity for us to do this is now," Kerri, 40, added.

Describing themselves as planners, they have allotted themselves $100 a day for the next two years. The money for their travels comes from saving for five years. The money they made selling their home and possessions is put away in savings for when they return.

Round Trip

To follow the Frazier family on their around-the-world adventure, visit travel-junkies.com. Â

"The one thing we didn't budget for is souvenirs," Kerri said.

Both Kerri and Jason said traveling around the world is possible for anyone.

"You don't need to be rich or to have won the lottery to travel long-term," Jason said. "You just need to come up with a realistic plan for saving money and stick to it."

The inspiration to make their dream a reality is their daughter, they said.

With their busy work schedules, they were seeing their daughter for a few hours a night and on weekends. They wanted to show her it's possible to do the things some people only dream about.

Describing Jason as the dreamer and Kerri as the worrier, they said they're a good team because they have common interests and goals, yet see the world differently.

"These differences allow us to fill in the missing pieces by seeing things the other person may have missed and to quickly find solutions as problems arise," Jason said.

From France, they plan to go to Spain and then Eastern Europe. They also look forward to seeing the Great Pyramid, the Coliseum in Rome, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Barrier Reef and more.

"I can't wait to see the Eiffel Tower," Sydney said. "I plan to make my parents climb the stairs all the way to the top and I want to see the pyramids and ride on a camel."

At the end of their two years, they said they'll be ready for the next chapter in their lives.

"We may decide to settle down on a tropical island paradise in the South Pacific, return to office life or find a way to continue traveling," Jason said. "Only time will tell, and that's one of the reasons we sold everything, so that we're not tied to one place.

"We believe to really experience a place that you have to live there," he said. "If we didn't do this now, we probably wouldn't have done it."